Tool
Fear Inoculum

In 13 years, a lot of things can happen and change; you can finish three schools, get married, divorced, and remarried. You could have changed several jobs, earned different karate belts, have ¼ of the hair you once had, while your daughter, whom you used to push on the swing yesterday, might now have turned into a stunning beauty flaunting legs, heels, and drinks at the disco, etc…

In any case, your desire for a new Tool album hasn't changed. Yes, a lot has happened with Tool since the release of “10,000 Days” in 2006; various side projects, accidents, legal battles, a series of events that have hindered the creation of the album, but never really extinguished the desire to complete it.

Essentially, nothing has changed, probably because many ideas already emerged about a decade ago. We expected something different after 13 years, but in the end, we find Tool more or less as we left them. All things considered, it's understandable, and I reckon that “Fear Inoculum” is simply a continuation of a conversation that started with “Lateralus” and continued with “10,000 Days,” a conversation that wasn't quite complete yet. And so our ears are once again delighted by claustrophobic and dark atmospheres that hide a vaguely tribal touch, soft, composed but hypnotic guitar passages, metallic bass lines— not overly sharp but tremendously tormented— drumming with multiple facets, synthesized effects, all elements well entwined in the expansive psychedelic textures, until the moment when distorted guitar outbursts intervene, abrasive and angry just enough but never crossing into extreme metal. It's somewhat like a repressed anger held back as long as it can, only to free itself but without causing a real carnage. There is always a shadow of doubt about how much of a metal band Tool really is, given that one always has to wait through several long moments of calm suffering before reaching the outbursts of distorted guitars. Perhaps we should be cautious and speak of a progressive/alternative rock that is tormented, dark, and psychedelic, using metal merely to vent; a different discourse for the track “7empest,” where the powerful rhythms prevail over everything.

However, here they want to go overboard making everything more stretched than ever, the tracks are almost all over 10 minutes long, filling the physical support to the brim as if to say, “if we must return after so many years, we must do it in grand style”; the digital version even has three additional tracks, which are honestly avoidable, simply consisting of interludes made of harmless sound rustles.

Yet, a certain sense of déjà vu is felt at several points, the title track seems to be the alter ego of “The Grudge,” “Pneuma” feels like the twin of “Right in Two” but also somewhat of “The Patient,” the arpeggios in “Descending” remind of those in “Wings for Marie Pt. 1.” The only completely revolutionary track for the band's sound is the brief “Chocolate Chip Trip,” a sick industrial piece where heavy electronic sounds are accompanied by intricate and wild drumming.

Much of what is written in this review could easily describe the previous albums as well, at least for now, Tool remains in familiar territory and scores again. We all come away from listening to the album satisfied with the unexpected return but also because what we have heard fully conforms to what we had been accustomed to and what we expected. It doesn't matter much if no real step forward has been made, the band surely knows better than us when to take it. They probably felt that making a bold move after 13 years wasn't the best option. However, now we truly believe that Tool can return to full production. The band itself has stated that they have a lot of irons in the fire and that we probably won't have to wait another 13 years for the next release. For now, it's enough to give them the “welcome back.”